tmoz
S85D, Y LR, ex Prius PiP
Wow. "Now that's something you don't see everyday ..." Wish a Tesla semi was hauling it.
-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Supercharger - Fort Stockton, Texas
- Thread starter vperl
- Start date
Doc Savage
Member
tmoz
S85D, Y LR, ex Prius PiP
When I lived in Dallas, some guy rolled down his window at a stoplight and asked where the Johnson freeway was. My passenger and I had about 10 seconds to respond. We came up blank. no idea. After he drove away, it dawned on us. He must have meant the LBJ freeway, or the 635. Nobody calls it the Johnson freeway. LOL.
TMC Bubba
Member
Do my eyes deceive me or is Electrify America planning a CHAdeMO charger for Fort Stockton?
Welcome to Electrify America | Locations
Welcome to Electrify America | Locations
Nobody calls it “the 635” either. Prefacing a highway number with “the” is a Southern California thing.
tmoz
S85D, Y LR, ex Prius PiP
Interesting. Illinois doesn't use "the" with the number either. I80 for example. Arizona goes both ways - must be the california influence being so close.
charliepmayer
Member
I just spoke with the manager of the WalMart in Fort Stockton. He is a proponent of having a charger- any kind - at his store. He said the surveyor came out, scoped the situation and left. He has not heard from the City or Tesla since the survey.
tmoz
S85D, Y LR, ex Prius PiP
charliepmayer
Member
tmoz - he didn't say - my guess is six weeks ago based on utility info.
charliepmayer
Member
Just spoke to the manager of the Flying J: yes, there will be several charging stations out front by the gas prices sign. It's been 6-8 months since he was last contacted by Tesla. He has no idea when installation will take place. He involved his district manager in our conversation. Enthusiastic manager - wants us there.
Good place for us, too.
Utility locate site still shows no completion at the FJ or at WalMart.
Looks like Tesla is asleep at the wheel - once again. Best Western redux.
Tesla should at least contact the businesses involved with a status update once a month or so.
Tesla's silence with us is inconvenient, but to keep your partners in the dark is unprofessional IMHO.
Good place for us, too.
Utility locate site still shows no completion at the FJ or at WalMart.
Looks like Tesla is asleep at the wheel - once again. Best Western redux.
Tesla should at least contact the businesses involved with a status update once a month or so.
Tesla's silence with us is inconvenient, but to keep your partners in the dark is unprofessional IMHO.
TaoJones
Beyond Driven
Great legwork as always. And encouraging news about the district manager. Sweet location, if it ever happens. And it just makes sense - every Tesla owner who stops at the Flying J is likely to at least consider a cup of coffee. As well, they've now got salads and fresh fruit 24/7 at surprisingly fair prices for those who just want to grab and go.
Absolutely agreed that Tesla by any measure continues to fail Communications 101. Fortunately in Fort Stockton (which continues to exist in part because of its location), there are at least the 3 sites you've visited. One day, however, one of them will have CCS chargers *twitch*, and at this rate, those will be in before an SC goes live.
Hopefully, the new Supercharger Team fellow assigned this area (based in Houston, versus the last guy who was based in Scottsdale) was not one of the ones recently laid off. Just to muddy the waters even further.
Frankly, Tesla should pay *you* at this point to continue to serve as an ad hoc liaison with managers on the ground.
charliepmayer
Member
Towns like Fort Stockton will (eventually!) get superchargers and electrify america chargers for the same reason they got truck stops many decades ago.
And actually it goes back even further than that to interstates, train lines, telegraph, Pony Express, Oregon Trail, etc. The last couple were not in Texas but you get the idea. You just have to have a "Fort" every 50, 100 miles or so to service whatever it is you are trying to do as a society.
And actually it goes back even further than that to interstates, train lines, telegraph, Pony Express, Oregon Trail, etc. The last couple were not in Texas but you get the idea. You just have to have a "Fort" every 50, 100 miles or so to service whatever it is you are trying to do as a society.
nwdiver
Well-Known Member
Not sure about that; Making $$$ from selling gasoline and diesel was a for-gone conclusion. There are some people that think it's not really possible to make money the same way selling electrons... Chargepoints CEO for example.
I don't think the market alone will ever support a fast charging network. It's going to require the OEMs and hosts to invest $$$ to sell cars and food. Mostly the OEMs... I don't think EVs drivers would spend enough to provide a reasonable return. Gas Stations make most of their profit from $3 monsters but they more than break even on selling gasoline.
nwdiver
Well-Known Member
Was there a reason other than profit for truck stops that I'm unaware of?
Profitable or not, they would have put truck stops in regardless. If private companies didn't think they were profitable then the trucking companies would have built them. You're really getting hung up on the profitability issue. Totally different topic.
All I'm saying is that there was a need for truck stops, highways, railways, etc. just as there is a need for electric charging infrastructure.
Note that it wasn't profitable to build the highways but they did it anyway, with government funding of course.
nwdiver
Well-Known Member
I dunno. Another plausible outcome would be some routes just wouldn't be served by truck. Rail would take the fright... You could get caught in a catch 22 where J&L waits for Hunter to pony up the $$$ and Hunter is waiting for R&L... Maybe truck stops would have been established by trucking companies... I dunno... as far as I know that's not what happened... market forces drove truck stops.
IMO this is the erroneous assumption that other OEMs like Porsche and Jaguar are making. They're expecting market forces to drive infrastructure and the currently appears very unlikely to occur. I can see a scenario where EVs are just used for relatively short-distance trips and if you're a road warrior you either take the ICE or own a Tesla.
Every market driven charging network has been a disaster... look at blink. I expect the same outcome from Electrify America. Tesla is motivated to ensure their network is maintained... what motivation would Electrify America have to fix a broken charger? There's not much profit in charing cars...
Similar threads
